Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 555: The Difficulty in the Resolution of Family Affairs

The captain responded honestly, “Normally, ships follow established routes that have been charted by those who came before. Straying too far could easily lead to unknown currents or hidden reefs and end in a wreck with no survivors. Only a small portion of the vast ocean has truly been explored, and there are countless islands that remain undiscovered... like the one you two were staying on. We had never come across it before.”

Zhao Changhe nodded. Forget about small islands. Even an entire continent could go unnoticed if it’s isolated enough.

“The Heavenly Origin Pirates have been roaming the Eastern Sea for nearly thirty years. They are always on the move. They sometimes wreak havoc and other times lie low. No one knows if it’s due to internal reasons or something else. But from all that moving, they’ve ended up knowing lots of places that others aren’t even aware of. Recently, they provoked the Sea God and had to flee their long-established base. No one knows where they are now, and so we’ve formed a multi-nation coalition to find them. My fleet is just one among many.”

Lady Three raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I see. You must be quite a distinguished commander, then. Which nation are you from?”

The captain replied, “We’re from the Kingdom of Java[1]... I am Admiral Lai Qi.”

Hearing that familiar name paired with the unexpected use of a Chinese-sounding title, Zhao Changhe found himself drifting off, his mind wandering.

Lady Three smiled. “Oh my, an admiral. My apologies, I didn’t realize we were in such esteemed company.”

Lai Qi looked embarrassed and said nothing.

To be fair, calling himself an admiral when their fleet barely looked better than fishing boats—with ragtag gear that looked like hand-me-downs—was, indeed, awkward. His title perhaps held even less credibility than that of an incompetent general like Xing Daorong[2]. In fact, the supposed navy he was in charge of was merely made up of repurposed fishing boats and merchant ships. Even on board, they still called him captain rather than admiral.

Lady Three knew what these smaller nations were like. Many were little more than large villages in terms of population—a nation in name alone. Expecting them to have a formidable navy was unrealistic. Instead of mocking, she simply asked, “And with only a few ships like this, how do you expect to find the pirates? And even if you do find them, what then? Isn’t this just a suicide mission?”

Lai Qi replied, “We’re part of a larger coalition. It’s not just us.”

Lady Three nodded knowingly. Then, with a hint of sarcasm, she asked, “Since this is the Sea God’s mission, shouldn’t he have already shown you where they are? Why the need to search?”

Lai Qi was embarrassed again, stammering, “I-I assume a revelation is coming soon.”

In truth, the Sea God had not provided any instructions on the pirates’ whereabouts. The more blindly faithful insisted it was merely a test from their god, but those with any sense knew that the so-called Sea God was not all-knowing or omnipotent. Even in his domain—the sea—there were plenty of things he was unaware of. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Not only could he not see everything, he also had not managed to eradicate the pirates completely, having allowed them to escape. The propagandists painted it as a glorious triumph, but the reality was that they had gotten away—a fact that did not quite match up with the expectations people had of a god.

Still, since the Sea God had made a move, most believed that he had to be actively searching as well, and would soon reveal the pirates’ location.

Lady Three’s questioning was honest, but at the same time, came from a point of view entirely different from what the captain thought. Indeed, she herself did not know where the pirates were... and she was about to hitch a ride with the enemy to find her own people.

Lady Three thought of this and found it amusing. She sneered, “I thought you had a solid plan to take down the pirates, but it turns out you don’t even know where they are... Since it’s a multi-nation effort with separate searches being carried out simultaneously, how do you plan to communicate if one of you does manage to find them?”

Lai Qi replied, “We’ll be meeting up at Dongan Island[ref]The name used here is shared with an island in Ningde, Fujian. As I thought, the naming seems irrelevant to the locations in the real world.[ref/], which is where the allied forces’ headquarters is set up. Sir Hai Changkong from Penglai is the one coordinating everything and issuing orders, acting as the commander of the allied forces. We are supposed to rendezvous there in seven days.”

Upon hearing the name, Lady Three seemed to lose focus for a moment.

Zhao Changhe took over the conversation, “Alright, that’s all. You can leave now.”

Lai Qi smiled apologetically and took his leave. “Please enjoy your meal.”

Zhao Changhe got up, closed the door properly, and slowly returned, picking up the wine flagon and pouring a drink for Lady Three. “What is it? An old enemy?”

Previously, when Lady Three recounted her past, she glossed over some critical details, particularly about her mother’s death, saying she would explain some other time. Ultimately, it was about her parents, and it was understandable that she would not want to dive into it or share it so casually.

But this time, Lady Three spoke with surprising ease. She took the cup from Zhao Changhe, sipped it, and said in a low voice, “Hai Changkong was one of Hai Pinglan’s personal guards, just like Hai Qianfan. They both received his surname, and they were practically adopted sons. Back then, Hai Changkong was just a teenager, under twenty, who fled with Hai Pinglan to the sea and earned his place with valor. When I was a kid, I was close to him.”

“Adopted sons? Does that mean they have a claim to succession, assuming you were out of the picture?” Zhao Changhe keenly noted a possible point of tension.

Lady Three chuckled softly. “Maybe. Hai Pinglan had dozens of adopted sons, but those who stood out did have a chance, assuming neither my mother nor I was around... When my mother was alive, no one seriously considered themselves in the running. They simply didn’t have the power. But after she was gone, they started pursuing me quite actively, possibly for that very reason.”

“I see...”

“Indeed, Hai Changkong was one of those who chased after me relentlessly,” Lady Three said with a small smile. “I suppose he’s an enemy, but oddly, I can’t bring myself to really hate him.”

Zhao Changhe remarked, “That’s probably because he’s not the real enemy, and you can’t bring yourself to hate Hai Pinglan. Also, it’s been so many years. With how carefree you are, I would honestly find it strange if you still held a grudge against someone of such minor significance.”

Lady Three leaned on the table and mumbled, “It’s not just that. It’s all just a mess, honestly.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “What exactly happened?”

Lady Three sighed, “I told you before that my mother’s death was a mystery... Back then, there was a proposal to establish the Kingdom of Penglai. Hai Pinglan supported it. He could never forget his days ruling over a part of Jiangnan. He always wanted to restore his kingdom. Penglai had great weather and a growing population. Doesn’t it sound just like a smaller Jiangnan?”

“Your mother was against it?”

Lady Three continued, “At first, my mother was opposed to the idea. She saw the sea as a place of refuse, far from her homeland. She never thought of settling there permanently. When she saw Hai Pinglan losing his ambition and wanting to establish a small, secluded kingdom on an island, she was very unhappy.”

“At first...?”

“Yes, later on, for reasons I don’t know, she eventually agreed. It seemed like it would be a happy ending. Everyone was busy making preparations for the founding of the kingdom. But on the eve of the ceremony, Hai Pinglan announced that my mother had been ambushed and killed.”

Zhao Changhe was puzzled. “What?”

Lady Three laughed sarcastically. “The ridiculous part is, Hai Pinglan himself was also badly injured. Now tell me, was he truly attacked by an enemy, or was he injured when my mother fought back as he tried to kill her?”

Zhao Changhe fell silent, unsure of how to respond.

Lady Three continued, “The immediate thought that would come to my mind would be that they fought over power, right? Who should be king or queen, perhaps? After all, my mother had been managing everything for years. Her influence among the pirates was the highest. If she wanted to be queen, Hai Pinglan couldn’t have stopped her. But then, would he really be willing to give up the throne to his wife? Maybe they fought, and it ended in tragedy.”

Zhao Changhe nodded, “That does seem like the most logical assumption. Of course, if they fought over something else and things escalated, that could also make sense.”

“Exactly. Even when you try to find another reason, you’d still start from the premise that it was him who killed her.”

“Yeah... if she was supposedly ambushed in her own residence, where exactly was the enemy?”

“Exactly. At the time, everyone believed it was a struggle over power between them. The pirates loyal to my mother couldn’t accept this outcome, and I didn’t want to accept it either. In fact, I was the most enraged. I charged in to demand answers, leading Hai Qianfan and a group of loyal fighters to confront Hai Pinglan.” Lady Three sighed. “Tell me, do you think that it looked like I was trying to seize power while he was injured?”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head, “It really does sound like it... Too much so.”

Lady Three continued, “Naturally, those loyal to Hai Pinglan—people like Hai Changkong—fought back, and it turned into an internal conflict. Eventually, Hai Pinglan, bedridden but still formidable, personally came out to suppress us. Hai Qianfan protected me, and we escaped back to the sea, becoming pirates again. Later, as I mentioned before, he continued to pursue us, treating us as enemies. Not wanting to see more pirates die, I left for the mainland.”

Zhao Changhe sat there, thinking, and after a while, his brow furrowed.

Lady Three asked, “What is it? Have you realized something?”

Zhao Changhe did, in fact, realize something.

Throughout all of this, there was never concrete proof that Hai Pinglan was the one who killed his wife.

Hai Pinglan’s decision to personally suppress Lady Three’s attempted takeover and his subsequent pursuit of the pirates seemed to imply guilt, to make it look like an undeniable fact. But if you look at it from another perspective, it’s also a perfectly reasonable response from a ruler—one who faced rebellion from his own child. History has seen plenty of rulers deposed by their own offspring.

Lady Three, as a young girl at the time, could not have processed everything. She just ran and sought solace in faith, hoping that one day a god would descend, proving that all empires and ambitions were nothing but futile.

Over the years, as she calmed down, growing from a young girl into a mature woman, now a revered venerable of a cult, above tens of thousands of followers, she began reflecting on the past. The more she did, the more she realized that things did not add up. That must be why she’s been describing her mother’s death as a mystery. She must be questioning whether it really was a murder.

But there was still a significant issue here...

If it really was a misunderstanding, once tensions had subsided, Hai Pinglan should have had a thousand different ways to convey the truth to the Heavenly Origin Pirates. He should have at least tried to clear up the misunderstanding. Yet all these years, he’s never tried to do so, and now he’s even organized an allied fleet to eliminate them... This suggests that it wasn’t a misunderstanding at all.

This whole mess was tangled beyond belief, and Shelly has no interest in continually trying to unravel it. She’s already entertained the idea that maybe it wasn’t him and was even more reluctant to dig further, not wanting to confirm the worst. After all, what would she do then? It’s easier to let things lie, to distance herself from the issue. For her, the matters of the Four Idols Cult are far more pressing than this old maritime grudge. If it weren’t for recent events that forced her back to sea, she probably would never have returned at all.

Looking at Lady Three, sprawled on the table in resignation, Zhao Changhe suddenly said, “I think you should... go ask him.”

Lady Three lifted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Hm?”

“Chichi used to fear seeing Xia Longyuan. But when she finally met him, she realized that it wasn’t actually such a big deal. All the pressure she put on herself was just her own creation,” Zhao Changhe said gently. “You should go ask him too. If it wasn’t him, then you’d know who the real enemy is. You could avenge your mother together, as father and daughter. You’re at the third layer of the Profound Mysteries now, and I believe you might be even stronger than your father. If there’s something he’s afraid to do alone, the two of you might just be able to do it together.”

Lady Three squinted her eyes, staring at him steadily. “And if it was him?”

Zhao Changhe looked her in the eye. “You’ve considered him an enemy for so many years—if it turns out he truly is, then nothing changes, right? Pretending otherwise, convincing yourself he might not be—that’s what would be laughable. You’re Venerable Black Tortoise. Are you really telling me you lack the courage to face your enemy head-on?”

1. The Java here uses the same wording as the Java in the real world. ☜

2. This is a minor character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. ☜